Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko Filipovic
The fight was for the Pride heavyweight championship, by far the most anticipated match in MMA history, with Fedor Emelianenko defending the belt. The fight was watched by 26 million people on Fuji TV in japan alone. The Fight The first round began and they touched gloves and circled. Fedor was just walking him down, he missed a big right and they clinched but broke. Mirko landed a body kick but Fedor turned with it. Mirko landed a good counter left and then a good counter right. Mirko missed a straight left and dodged a counter right thrown wildly by Fedor. Fedor landed a leg kick. They circled around with Mirko the one backing up constantly. Mirko landed a straight left and dodged another wild right, dodged another wild right nicely and smiled edgily. Fedor missed a right and landed a left hook, Fedor landed a leg kick. Very technical battle. Not quite a war, though. Fedor landed a counter body kick. Mirko landed a body kick and Fedor came right into it, damn. Fedor missed a wild right, landed a combination in close, missed another right, and another and they clinched, Fedor broke with a missed knee. Mirko missed a straight left, narrowly missed a headkick and Fedor came for the takedown and Mirko avoided and tossed him into the ropes and Fedor nearly went out of the ring and they continued and circled, Mirko was obviously trying not to smile. Mirko landed a leg kick and ate a counter body kick from Fedor. Mirko landed a very nice body kick. These were hurting Fedor. Fedor landed a nice one-two-three combination. Fedor landed a leg kick. Fedor missed another wild right after a moment of circling. Mirko seemed to be looking to counter, no he landed two stiff jabs to Fedor's nose and broke it and Fedor stumbled back and Mirko pounced with a big combination, ate a big counter right and stumbled, missed a headkick and stumbled, missed a combination, Fedor got the takedown and stood over him holding his legs and trying to pound down unsuccessfully and went down into full guard. The referee paused the fight to check a cut on Fedor's face though, from two stiff jabs to the nose that Fedor had eaten to start the combination. They restarted in the center of the ring. Fedor landed two nice short shots. Mirko was doing a nice job defensively. Fedor stood over Mirko and he was looking to pass to side control but Mirko defended back and pulled guard once again. Fedor stood again and then came back down into guard missing a shot. Mirko was controlling Fedor's arms nicely. The referee paused the fight again to check that big cut on Fedor's nose once again, it was bleeding pretty badly. It wasn't a cut, I believe, I think his nose is just bloody. They continued in the center of the ring. Mirko still had some nice arm control going. Fedor stood and landed a big shot, ate an upkick, wiped his nose, came in and ate another, came in and jumped into full guard. He stood and ate some big hammerfists, three or four, backed off, came back down into guard and then he rolled and passed to north-south. He went to side and tried for mount but Mirko put him back in full guard and controlled his arms. Fedor stood and came down with a missed combination back to full guard. They weren't doing much. The referee said 'action'. Fedor postured up and came back down after a moment back to guard. Ya-ya-ya-ya-yawn. Fedor postured up, landed a nice shot, back to guard. Fedor postured up, back to guard. It was just at a fucking stalemate on the ground, Fedor nearly passed to side control, didn't quite make it, back to full fucking guard. Fedor landed some nice body shots, just constantly. Mirko's decent off his back, I would suppose. Fedor's no joke with his own top game either. The first round ended. Not the most exciting fight but... Fedor's corner quietly worked in the corner on his broken nose. The second round began. Fedor landed a body kick and a combination mainly blocked by Mirko. Mirko blocked a headkick and Fedor came for the takedown, Mirko stuffed it and backed away from Fedor. Mirko seemed strangely faded. Fedor landed a nice counter right. Mirko landed a pretty nice body kick, Fedor ducked under a head kick. They clinched and broke. They looked a bit tired. Mirko checked a weak leg kick and they clinched. Mirko had his mouth open. They broke and yeah Mirko looked tired. From those body shots most likely. Mirko blocked a combination and stumbled back. Fedor blocked a headkick. Weak attempt. He blocked a straight left. They clinched. Fedor landed a knee to the body. Fedor tried a toss takedown and Mirko avoided and Fedor broke with a nice left hook to Mirko's ear. They circled. They clinched. Yeah, Mirko looked a bit worried. Fedor shoved Mirko down into full guard but the referee moved it to the center of the ring. Mirko crawled over, Fedor walked over, they restarted there. The crowd chanted Mirko's name briefly, with varying pronunciations like Meerko and Murko, I say it Murko. Fedor stood slowly and tried to go down into half-guard, Mirko went half-heartedly for a triangle and then pulled full guard. Phew. Yep same ole same ole, Fedor in Mirko's guard not really doing anything. The referee said 'action' and then again a moment later. Dude, just fucking stand them up, come on. No wait it's already done. The second round ended. Yeah, Fedor's nose is definitely broken in his corner, it looks jagged as fuck. Argh, nasty. The third round began. Fedor checked a leg kick right off the bat. Fedor landed a body shot and a double jab. Mirko shoved Fedor away as he came in. Fedor landed a body kick and they clinched. Fedor went for the takedown, Mirko nearly had his back, Fedor shoved him down right back into full guard. Excellent... Heavily sarcastic. The crowd chanted 'Meerko' again. The referee moved them back to the center of the ring. Mirko looked exhausted. Fedor landed a nice shot to Mirko's ear. Mirko tried for a triangle and Fedor hammerfisted viciously and pulled out into side control, tried for mount and Mirko retained guard. Fedor landed a nice right hand downwards. Fedor passed to half-guard and hammerfisted Mirko's ear before Mirko retained guard and controlled his arms some more. The referee stood them up a moment later. They clinched and Fedor landed a knee and got the takedown right back into guard. The crowd sounded slightly disappointed. Fedor landed some body shots and a hammerfist. Fedor tried a jumping pass but Mirko had none of that. Fedor landed some body shots. Mirko hammerfisted from the bottom and some more. The referee stood them up. They gave Mirko a yellow card. Fedor blocked a body kick. Mirko landed a body kick at the same time that Fedor landed an inside leg kick, taking Mirko off guard. Fedor landed a leg kick and they clinched. Fedor sort of pushed Mirko down, looked at him and went into full guard. Mirko hammerfisted rapidly to the back of Fedor's head for a moment. The third round ended fucking mercifully. Mirko looked exhausted. Fedor was the winner by unanimous decision and he retained his championship and the fighters briefly hugged. Mirko didn't look surprised.